Vixen Above, Mensao Below (12)

The three of them continued their way on the stairs, until finally encountering another living person on Deck 8. They were above sea level now, so they could finally get into the promenade deck and look at the sea.

This was important not only because of the view and the open air, but also because they had to look at the number of lifeboats. With this outbreak going on, the probability of the other passengers getting onto lifeboats to get off the ship was high.

In a cruise ship, regulations require each side of cruise ships to have enough lifeboats to accommodate 37.5% of the total number of persons on board, including passengers and crew, about 75% in total. Inflatable or rigid liferafts must accommodate the remaining 25%. Besides, the cruise ship often isn't booked to its full capacity, so this number should be reassuring to Song Jia.

But, that was if everyone correctly followed the safety drills and emergency procedures. What if there was a mass hysteria and everyone was panicking to get off? In total mayhem, all bets were off. Song Jia was worried mostly about this, so she wanted to go and take a look.

However, before they could do anything, they were distracted by a high-pitched scream.

"Yanyan!"

There were two girls being surrounded by a pack of zombies in the middle of the corridor, both of them carrying golf clubs. One of them had been pounced on by a zombie, and she was struggling to push him away by using the shaft of the golf club against his chest.

The two of them were wearing the same school uniform, and Song Jia recognized the emblem.

They were her classmates.

Song Jia took a step forward, but Ye Minzhe grabbed her wrist.

"Stay here, I'll go." He looked at Gu Yuan. "Watch her carefully."

Gu Yuan also wanted to rescue his own students, but he knew his own limits. He nodded to Ye Minzhe. This student was arrogant and often impolite, but Gu Yuan couldn't deny that his presence gave him reassurance.

They watched as Ye Minzhe slammed his baseball bat against the back of the head on one of the zombies, toppling him in one blow. Song Jia saw that there were too many of them, and as soon they all realized that Ye Minzhe was a direct threat, they swarmed over him.

Ye Minzhe would hit one of them with a bat and to prevent another from getting too close to him, he would use his feet to kick them away. The baseball bat soon proved to be a disadvantage at close combat, however, because it needed momentum to swing. With so many zombies surrounding him, Ye Minzhe didn't have enough space to hit them with force, so he decided to drop it. From their point of view, he looked like he was in a desperate situation.

"Teacher, if he needs help, don't stop me," Song Jia told Gu Yuan.

Although she felt that it would be good to whack some sense into Ye Minzhe's head most of the time, he was still her half-brother. And Song Jia liked playing hero.

Gu Yuan hesitated. He looked at her slender figure and knew it would only be a futile attempt even if she tried.

"Miss Ye, your brother tried to protect you, don't waste his efforts."

Song Jia crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Teacher, I'm more capable than you think."

Don't underestimate the coolness of grandma, oh~

But because Song Jia was too short, her imposing attitude was lost on Gu Yuan. Wearing a large yellow sweater with her neck straining upwards to look at him in a 45-degree angle, don't mention coolness, what Song Jia only sold was meng. This was the standard selfie pose of sa jiao women. [1]

Gu Yuan ignored the quick skip of his heartbeat at her adorable look and resisted patting her head.

He smiled indulgently at her. "Alright, Miss Ye is very capable."

But, when they looked back at Ye Minzhe, he didn't seem to need their help. He pivoted on one foot and struck out with the other, causing another zombie to slam against the wall. His knife was sticking into its eye before they could blink. He weaved over the flailing arms of another zombie that was trying to grab him, kneed him in the gut, and thrusted his elbow upwards to hit his chin. His movements were quick and methodical, his expression cold and indifferent.

From his techniques, Song Jia learned that he knew several types of mixed martial arts. Judo, jujitsu, boxing, muay thai, karate, taekwondo...he blended it perfectly, defending the weakness of one type with the strength of another. It was a blend of styles that couldn't be pulled off easily, even by someone who had trained for decades.

With blood and limbs flying all around him, he looked ridiculously handsome, like those OP heroes from myths and legends. Not even mentioning those two girls behind him where hearts popped into their eyes with a 'ding!' like a slot machine, even Song Jia felt that Ye Minzhe looked somewhat cool at this moment.

But the second the fight was over, this illusion was quickly shattered into pieces.

That was because Ye Minzhe finally opened his mouth.

He excitedly looked at Song Jia and pointed at his handiwork. "Jia, Jia, did you see that? Did you see how cool I was? Come quickly and praise this young master!"

At that moment, Song Jia learned a great truth. Cool were the people who were great without saying it, while those who knew they were great and tooted their own horns were lame.

Unfortunately, Ye Minzhe belonged to the second category. Song Jia shook off the stars in her eyes and ignored him as she went over towards the two girls.

She recognized the two of them, they were Sheng Li and Wei Yan. They were close best friends who belonged to the same popular group as Ding Xiuxiu, the top beauty of their school.

Ding Xiuxiu was Ye Minzhe's childhood friend, and according to rumors, the two of them had an unrequited love with each other. Neither party was willing to admit their feelings, but the whole school considered them to be a couple.

Even their own fans could only say, "I will bury alive anyone who takes my god/goddess away from me, but if it's Ding Xiuxiu/Ye Minzhe, then I can only be a light bulb to their relationship!"

Then all of them would follow up with:

"Ahhh, I'll be light bulb #2!"

"Become light bulb #3!"

"Please let me be light bulb #4!"

"Save electricity!"

Song Jia knew this very well because in Ye Jia's memories, she adored Ding Xiuxiu with all of her being. She was also a member of her fan club in school, and had the title of being light bulb #100984.

It would be understandable according to the dog plot drama if Ding Xiuxiu also used her popularity to bully Ye Jia, but in fact, she was often the one who protected her from Ye Minzhe. That's why, Ye Jia adored her from head to toe.

"Yanyan, are you alright?" Sheng Li's eyes were watery with tears as she looked at Wei Yan who was almost bitten. She looked up at Ye Minzhe with gratitude in her eyes. "Ye Minzhe, thank you."

They had been running from zombies almost nonstop, and after Wei Yan was about to get bitten, Sheng Li nearly thought that it would be the end of them. When Ye Minzhe suddenly appeared and rescued them, Sheng Li felt dizzy with relief. She thought he was only handsome and rich, but he was actually also kind.

No wonder Xiuxiu likes him so much, Sheng Li thought, and felt a bit of sourness flow inside her heart.

[1] Sajiao 撒娇 means to act spoiled or child-like, basically Ch. version of the Korean aegyo or the Japanese moe/kawaii.